Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Curb cigarette use and chewing of tobacco' that was published in Newsband

Curb cigarette use and chewing of tobacco

World Health Organisation on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day (May 31) praised India for minimizing cigarette smoking. India is well in line to meeting its 2025 target under a WHO global plan to tackle non-communicable diseases. This is excellent news. But smokeless tobacco is the bigger scourge in the country. India is lagging on this front.

The consumption of gutkha, khaini and zarda continues to be rampant. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey in 2016, for example, found that 29.6% of Indian men and 12.8% of Indian women were users. Children are victims of this lethal addiction too. 66% of the world’s smokeless-tobacco users are in India, a sizeable chunk of this number would be Indian teenagers. Gutkha and other chewable tobacco items are equally harmful compared to cigarettes. Why do they continue to be consumed, then?

One of the tactics of the tobacco industry is to use flavours such as cardamom and saffron to attract youngsters, triggering life-long addiction. India must turn its focus to the smokeless tobacco segment. Nice to see the decline in smoking users. But It might be in the overall use. There is significant evidence that it has increased among youth mainly for following reasons: 1) friend circle 2) illiteracy (mainly in Bihar, Orissa, WB) 3) lack of fear from adults 4) usage in family members. Government should close all loopholes to protect future generations.

Smokeless tobacco use has acquired epidemic proportions because it is much less social stigma than smoking. Sometimes to leave smoking, people take to smokeless tobacco as a stepping down process. Absence of smoke hides the habit often till you get closer to him. Smokeless tobacco industry is as aggressive as cigarette industry. Government is formal in tacking this except when compelled by the judiciary. Had not the Judiciary been so vigilant and active, WHO could not achieve this much success also in India.

It is a common practice, especially in rural areas, where people used to chew tobacco as stress reliever and feel energetic. It is also cheap compared to cigarettes. Teenagers follow their parents. The friend circle also impacts chewing Gutkha, Khaini and Kharrah. Drinking, smoking and chewing tobacco has become day-to-day affair of modern world. As like smoking, propaganda must be observed, effectively presenting ill-effects of tobacco, to save future generation.

One of the main reasons for the use of smoke-less tobacco is that it has a cultural and familial support. The youngsters use this as a sign of aristocracy.

Reducing consumption of tobacco products through various means like cigarettes, bidis, Gutkha/other chewable items is a huge challenge. If World Health Organisation says that India has succeeded in reducing consumption, it is a good development. Some months back when there was a discussion in Parliament about bill regarding printing of pictorial warnings on different tobacco products as regards dangers of smoking etc., some members of Parliament, who obviously represent the tobacco manufacturers, opposed increase in size of pictorial warnings. In fact it was reported in the press that some Members of Parliament believe that tobacco is good for our health! One can imagine how huge the challenge of reducing consumption of tobacco products is.